I played my first public show on April 11th, 2008 at 169 Bar; a New Orleans-inspired dive bar in the heart of the Lower East Side of New York City. This was during a time when you didn’t need an established following to book a time slot; a time that I would refer to as “the good old days”. It was a daytime gig, and I made the mistake of promoting the show at the church to those I believed would come out to see the show. The “higher-ups” didn’t seem to like that very much. Nonetheless, I carried on without a worry in the world. My only focus was getting through a successful set without embarrassing myself. The day arrived, and I showed up early to have a drink before taking the stage. I felt it would loosen me up, but on this day, I was mistaken. I was wound so tight, that I played a 30-minute set in an astounding 23 minutes; which goes back to the nasty habit I had of allowing my nerves to dictate the tempo of my performance. I sped my way through the entire show, and while my crowd all said they enjoyed it, I walked away knowing that I would have to be better if I wanted to be taken seriously as a performing artist.
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